Epiphone is proud to announce what many guitarists think of as the ultimate player's axe, the Ltd. Edition ES-355. The ES-355 is one of the most iconic guitar designs in rock and Epiphone has brought it back in all its glory in three beautiful finishes--Alpine White, Ebony, and classic Cherry.

The ES-355 Story

When it was first introduced in 1958, the ES-355 was the world's first thinline archtop semi-electric guitar, a bold new design that combined the cutting, bell-like sustain of a solid body with the darker, complex tones of an archtop. The ES-355 also incorporated the humbucker pickup, a new design created by famed Gibson pickup expert Seth Lover. Seth’s design eliminated the ‘hum’ found in single coil pickups and his invention quickly become legendary among guitar players. Many think of the ES-355 as one of the best electrics ever made and it can be found in the collection of all discriminating guitarists including B.B. King, Keith Richards, Jorma Kaukonen, Chuck Berry, and Noel Gallagher. Now with the Ltd. ES-355, you can have one in your collection, too.

PRODUCT FEATURES

Classic ES-design

Gold hardware and Bigsby™ tremelo

Alnico Classic™ Humbuckers

SPECIFICATIONS

Body

maple

Neck

hard maple

Neck Profile

SlimTaper™

Scale

24.75

Neck Pickup

Alnico Classic™ humbucker

Bridge pickup

Alnico Classic™ humbucker

Bridge

Epiphone Historic Tune o matic™ bridge

Tailpiece

gold Bigsby ™ Tremolo

Fingerboard

rosewood

Fingerboard Radius

12”

Fingerboard Inlay

pearloid “Blocks”

Headstock Inlay

pearloid “Split Diamond”

Headstock

Clipped Dovewing

Binding

Body and Neck: 5-layer white/black, Neck: 1-layer white

Machine Heads

Grover® 14:1 ratio machine heads

Hardware

Gold

Color

Alpine White (AW), Cherry (CH), Ebony (EB)

Strings

D’Addario® 10, 13, 17, 26, 36, 46

ES-355

PRODUCT FEATURES

Classic ES-design

Gold hardware and Bigsby™ tremelo

Alnico Classic™ Humbuckers

SPECIFICATIONS

Body

maple

Neck

hard maple

Neck Profile

SlimTaper™

Scale

24.75

Neck Pickup

Alnico Classic™ humbucker

Bridge pickup

Alnico Classic™ humbucker

Bridge

Epiphone Historic Tune o matic™ bridge

Tailpiece

gold Bigsby ™ Tremolo

Fingerboard

rosewood

Fingerboard Radius

12”

Fingerboard Inlay

pearloid “Blocks”

Headstock Inlay

pearloid “Split Diamond”

Headstock

Clipped Dovewing

Binding

Body and Neck: 5-layer white/black, Neck: 1-layer white

Machine Heads

Grover® 14:1 ratio machine heads

Hardware

Gold

Color

Alpine White (AW), Cherry (CH), Ebony (EB)

Strings

D’Addario® 10, 13, 17, 26, 36, 46

Groundbreaking Design

The Ltd. Edition ES-355's unique tonal range features the same groundbreaking design as the original. A wood block runs through the center of the body so the pickups are mounted much the same way as in a solid body guitar allowing for two hollow chambered areas over the violin style f-holes and in the double cutaway wings.

Classic Vintage Styling and Unique Features

The Ltd. Edition ES-355 body is constructed of 5-layer laminated maple and is available in three beautiful finishes: Alpine White, Ebony, and classic Cherry. The solid hard maple 24.75" scale SlimTaper™ 1960s "D" profile neck is hand-set and glued in. The ebony fingerboard has a 12" radius and a standard 1.68" nut width. The fingerboard features classic pearloid "Block" inlays and a vintage style pearloid "Split Diamond" headstock design with a bell shaped two-layer truss rod cover. The body and Clipped Dovewing headstock feature 5-layer black and white binding while the neck has single layer binding.

Original Premium Electronics

No detail of the original ES-355 has been missed. The Ltd. Edition ES-355 incorporates an Alnico Classic™ humbucker in the neck and an Alnico Classic™ humbucker in the bridge position. Patterned after Gibson '57 Classics, the Alnico Classic™ pickups use Alnico-V magnets with enamel wire to give you a tone that is warm and subtle with full, even response along with that classic humbucker overdrive when you need it!

When winding our humbuckers, Epiphone utilizes a double vacuum waxing process that ensures quiet operation, free from microphonic hum. The pickup is first placed in the specialized wax vacuuming system before the cover is placed on the unit to ensure that the wax fully penetrates to the very center of the pickup and solidifies all parts. After the cover is placed on, it is again given a second vacuum wax bath until the unit is completely saturated with wax. Epiphone uses only the highest quality parts for its pickups like ABS plastic bobbins, 1010 Cold Rolled Steel pole shoes and pole screws, Alnico magnets and the finest magnet wire available.

The ES 355’s 3-way toggle/pickup selector switch is an aged vintage yellow and is wired for the standard configuration with position one controlling the neck pickup's volume while position two controls the bridge pickup's volume. Volume and Tone controls for each pickup feature Black Speed™ knobs with pointers for easy reference and use full-size 500K O potentiometers.

Epiphone Rock Solid Hardware

To top off the vintage styling, Epiphone includes a "Tortoise" style pickguard with multi-binding. The pickguard is not attached to the guitar but is included in the packaging along with mounting hardware. Tuning stability is assured with gold Grover® 14:1 ratio machine heads, a gold Epiphone Historic Tune o matic™ bridge, and a gold Bigsby ™ Tremolo. An optional hard case is also available.